Surfactant Science

Principles & Practice

• A concise and practical reference for understanding surfactant systems
• Offers original formulas and phase diagrams for improved surfactant design and performance
• Equations related to online computer apps allow readers to test their own data
• Written in a conversational form, with a focus on real-world problems and troubleshooting
• Applications to detergents, coatings, cosmetics, soil and water remediation, and biosurfactants
• Full chapter included on foam and anti-foam science

This book is a presentation and extension of surfactant science and also a technical resource for characterizing and formulating surfactants. It goes beyond the standard guidelines of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB), critical micelle concentration (CMC), Bancroft’s rule, Griffin numbers etc. to focus on surfactant phenomena as a dynamic system. It stresses parameters such as hydrophilic-lipophilic difference (HLD, an extension of Sallager’s SAD), curves of surface tension related to concentration, surface excess, partition coefficients, and area per surfactant molecule and shows how these can be used not only to quantify but also to create effective surfactant formulations. In explaining how property variables affect formulation results, the book offers numerous original phase diagrams and equations. A valuable feature of the text is that dozens of traditional and original equations are accessible as computer apps, thus helping readers reinforce their understanding and test their own data. Practical details are presented about concrete products, showing what works and does not. The technology in this text pertains to a range of industrial and specialized surfactants, with explicit attention given to cosmetics, cleaning agents, remediation of oil-contamination, paints, coatings, and biosurfactants.

From the Preface

The target audience for this book is a younger version of myself. I have included all those things I wish I had known years ago. Had I had this book, my life of formulating with surfactants would have been so much more productive!

This book, therefore, contains everything that I know about surfactant science that can be useful to someone (such as myself) who formulates with surfactants. So it is a good idea to make it clear right from the start that although there are many good answers to many of our formulation questions (and these answers are generally not the ones you read about) there are lots of surfactant questions for which surfactant science currently has no satisfactory answers…

CHAPTER 3: NAC—NET AVERAGE CURVATURE
3.1 What can NAC do?
3.2 More fish power from NAC
3.3 More power from NAC—the fishtail plot
3.4 PIF—Phase Inversion Formulation
3.5 Going on forever
3.6 The problem of ξ
3.6.1 Other ways to look at ξ
3.6.2 Creating a large ξ for efficiency
3.6.3 CμC
3.6.4 Silicone oils
3.7 The point of this CHAPTER

Steven Abbott is an Oxford- and Harvard University-trained chemist who currently consults for leading coating, cosmetic, and p[Linharmaceutical companies around the world on surface, interface, and solubility problems. He is the author of numerous technical articles and books, including “Nanocoatings: Principles and Practice”, and “Adhesion Science: Principles and Practice”. In addition to his chemistry and physics expertise, Dr. Abbott is skilled in the creation of interactive computer apps based on equations and formulas.

• A concise and practical reference for understanding surfactant systems
• Offers original formulas and phase diagrams for improved surfactant design and performance
• Equations related to online computer apps allow readers to test their own data
• Written in a conversational form, with a focus on real-world problems and troubleshooting
• Applications to detergents, coatings, cosmetics, soil and water remediation, and biosurfactants
• Full chapter included on foam and anti-foam science